Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, May 21, 2006

Harris, Cosper, Breard. The names are gone now from their sides, as are their building plaques - all now stored as part of ULM history. They sit vacant and awaiting demolition.

Over the past year, they have watched the demolition of their sisters, Monroe and Slater halls, and the construction of beautiful new student housing just to their west. As they housed their last group of students this spring, perhaps they thought back over the many thousands of students who had walked their halls, and wondered if they would be remembered after they were gone. Perhaps they thought back to a time when they also were beautiful and the most unique structures on the NLSC campus - the first dormitory buildings. Soon they will be no more, but surely not, as they continue to live in the fond memories of all those students.
As Northeast Junior College became the four-year Northeast Louisiana State College in 1950 under President Lewis Slater, there was an accompanying construction boom on the campus. As part of it, the college would build dormitories. We can learn a great deal about these early dormitories from President George T. Walker's excellent history, "The Building of a University."

The first to be built was Harris Hall in 1955, followed by Cosper in 1957 and Breard in 1961. It is interesting to note that until 1962, these buildings and a number of others on campus were not named. The dorms were known variously as "the women's dorm" or "dorm 1" and "dorm 2," etc. In 1962, Walker appointed a committee to develop names for the campus buildings, and on June 1, 1962, a special convocation was held to pay tribute to those for whom the buildings and streets had been named.

Harris Hall was named for Susan West Harris (1863-1926), a teacher who began in Claiborne Parish and in 1900 became a faculty member at Ouachita Parish High School and taught there for the rest of her life.

Cosper Hall was named for Anna Gray Cosper (1841-1912), one of the first women in our area to hold a college degree. She was also a teacher and was instrumental in bringing a physician to this area, as she traveled to Baltimore and returned with and married Dr. William Yeldell Cosper from the first class at Johns Hopkins. In the early 1960s, her granddaughters presented Cosper Hall with a 100-year-old reproduction of a painting by Raphael from Florence, Italy.

The naming of Breard Hall honored the Marquis John Louis Alexander de Breard (1750-1830) who served as assessor of Ouachita Parish and held a land grant in this area.

So there they sit, along with the Infirmary, vacant and awaiting demolition. Their replacement is to be a wonderful green space in the form of a bayou park. Hopefully, the spirits of these buildings along with the spirits of all those students who lived in them will look over this park by the bayou and smile.

Have a great day at ULM.

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor